Collins: she and Key are guilty and they have to be held to account. Keep up the good work Grant Robertson.
Dunne: allowing him to continue with the legal highs job while his son is making a fortune from the sales of the shit is not tolerable in this society. Key is failing in his role.
Jones? An oxygen thief not worth any further effort.
Totally agree there, Karol.
And so it continues. He just can’t help it, can he. It’s his overinflated ego and the imaginary hurt because the plebs haven’t figured out what a great leader he is.
I’m waiting for the term “naked ambition” to be applied to Jones – remember when it was used by the MSM regularly about Cunliffe? Compare and contrast.
Far from it. In fact the sentence “Labour has now got to find a way of appealing to its traditional blue collar workers” and variations on it, has been repeated like a mantra on this morning’s Morning Report, with David Shearer and Damien O’Connor among those quoted.
Never mind the fact that Jones offered such people nothing concrete – that whatever appeal he had rested on a smoko-room-anecdote way of talking. Never mind either that the whole sentence seems code for “the building contractor who owns several rentals and hires people from overseas, having judged the locals as bloody useless,” and others of similar persuasion.
The whole business looks more and more like an attempt by the right wing from both inside and outside of the Labour Party to subvert the will of left-voting people while pretending to heed it.
Well I for one am appalled at what’s been happening in the Labour Party. Jones? a minor distraction, blown out of all proportion by the MSM, and reinforced by dickheads in the Labour Party. Glad it happened now, so I can now look to another party that will WANT my vote (Greens, Mana). and not Labour saying we don’t care if you vote for us. Because that’s the message I am getting. That and ‘We can’t organise Sex in a brothel’.
Here in Wanaka people just laugh when I talk about Labour or Greens. Phrases like “a house divided cannot stand” and “country’s doing great” for Labour, and “ewwww!” And “ha hahaaa” for Greens.
Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.
The GP candidate in the Waitaki electorate is a well known Wanaka person and did quite well over there.
“Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.”
In other words, Wanaka is being turned into an industrial dairying cesspit like everywhere else. Will be interesting to see how the farmers get on with the tourism lobby and lifestyle block real estate agents in ten years time.
Ooops, didn’t see your comment here when i posted one on the same thing below, Slippery and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith must have picked up a sense of disquiet from among the voters in the ‘focus groups’ about the ripping apart of the HousingNZ estate to be using the media in what seems like a week long ‘charm offensive’ where they are spending time ‘highlighting’ what few new build HousingNZ complexes have been completed by this regime…
Nice to see that they were warmly received, and that the people were so happy with the truth they were being told by the TricKey one. Why they even donated eggs for his dinner. And still he moans.
Interesting framing for the first article to be posted on this in the Herald yesterday, which manages to insinuate Mana Party for staging it all: PM’s car egged during state housing protests.
Comments allowed on this article, unsurprisingly, and some live up to the quality of reporting.
”One, two, three, four, stop the war on the poor, Maraenui under attack, stand up and fight back”, so chanted the kids of Maraenui a Napier suburb with a heavy concentration of State housing as Slippery the Prime Minister arrived to gush over the opening of some new pensioner housing,
Having all the gastronomic fortitude of your average Rat the PM then tried to do a bunk out the back way to avoid the protest, unfortunately someone forgot to tell the driver of the limo of the change of plan and the local kids again had the pleasure of voicing their displeasure in the face of the PM along with tossing the occasional missile in the direction of the limo which eventually left bearing the scars,
Slippery later claimed that the kids, mostly 10 to 12 year old’s were ”saying things they didn’t understand” and i suppose to preserve His ego He has to think that, but, can assure the PM that subjecting HousingNZ estates to the forced evictions and demolitions of the current regime and its 20%– $2.5 billion HousingNZ sell off leaves those kids knowing full well what is in store for them,
While it is hard to oppose such actions in the face of the publicity stunts being organized by the current regime where the tame media are being lead around by the nose by the likes of the PM and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith ‘gushing’ over the few completed ‘new build’ HousingNZ complexes we have to remember that for all their worth, and in the future pensioner housing will be like gold with the growth of the aged population, with the proposed shrinking of the States Housing stock by 20% it will be those 10 and 12 year old’s protesting befor the Prime Minister who will be all the worse off in the future,
Poverty has not lessened in this country, the reverse is true, it is not 20% less State Houses that are needed now in our society, it is at least 20% more of such housing that is needed with urgency…
What a silly comment Pete. I thought you would be coming out with the “Labour is ignoring the working class” line that is being perpetrated right now. By all means do that but how about you do a bit of fact checking beforehand. Read the party’s policy platform and then try and argue the party is not interested in ordinary people.
I think it’s a fair question Greg, it’s something that’s being widely discussed. I understand that it’s the done thing in politics to stoically say everything is fine and a win is imminent, but when the chasm between reality is so wide then it is counter-productive.
The party’s policy is not the problem. The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.
The party might be interested in ordinary people but it doesn’t show much. I’ve seen here and elsewhere since the loss in 2008 that the Labour caucus in particular is out of touch and doesn’t want to hear from ordinary people.
Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments.
It’s a difficult hole to get out of, but continuing to dig and deny won’t do it.
Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.
The first step is admitting the problems. It’s to far gone for stoic bullshit.
If the Labour totara uproots and crashes other parties will grow in the gap, but that takes time, and in the meantime Parliament will be significantly weakened.
No it is not a fair question Pete. It is fact free loaded spin. I thought you were trying to appear balanced.
Michael Basset reflecting common sentiments? Feck his party is now at less than 1% of the vote.
There may be a perception problem. It is because of a bunch of nodding heads reinforcing all the right wing spin that is fed to them and you should reflect on your comments in this regard.
Blame right wing spin.
Blame National.
Blame McCully.
Blame the media.
Blame Shane Jones.
Blame small party support that’s irrelevant.
Blame anyone pointing out the emperor’s clothes are in tatters here.
And see how you get on in September.
It may be that a million non-voters are suddenly attracted to a party fiddling while it’s Rome burns.
It’s not about the policies Greg. I can agree with most of most of Labour’s policies, and sure, some of them would help ‘ordinary people’ (although spending too much on policies could have negative effects for ordinary people too).
Very few voters read policies. Most people vote mostly on personalities and perceptions of competence.
Policies without power are paltry. If voters think a party doesn’t have the people or competence to win power and run a government then they won’t care what policies promise.
Cool. There’s more data there too of course that my be relevant to this discussion.
As I noted, the data isn” as good as we might like it, but it’s what we have, unless you have better data to share of course.
So, bearing in mind that:
“Fact checking isn’t a waste of time – it can help people perceive more accurately and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance.”
have a quick look at the following statements, and see if the facts revealed by that data can help clear up any propaganda or ignorance regarding what people think:
1) “Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.”
2) ” The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.”
3) “Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments”
If this question is for me – none. The election isn’t being held today. The parties and politicians haven’t put all their offerings and abilities on show yet.
If I vote I’ll decide who for close to or on election day.
But I’ll give you a possibility – if Labour are at 20% in the polls just before the election I’d consider voting for them to help keep them alive, if I thought they deserved it.
“If an election is held today, which party would get your party vote?”
Pete, you know full well it is a hypothetical question.
Now if you do not want to share who you vote for that is your choice, just stand up tall and proud and say that you prefer not to share such intimate secret knowledge of your deepest soul. People would respect that. But to hide behind such pitiful reasoning when discussing a hypothetical situation is even more bizarre than you being Editor in Chief of a fact checking site.
But I’ll give you a possibility – if Labour are at 20% in the polls just before the election I’d consider voting for them to help keep them alive, if I thought they deserved it.
So basically it seems that you will decide who to vote for near election day based on their polices, but you will not be voting for Labour unless they need you to “save them”.
In other words, it seems that you have a rather strong disdain for Labour, as you will not consider voting for them on the merits of their actual policies. This is also evident in many other comments you post: whether or not you will admit to it, many of your comments here are strongly anti-Labour in tone or message.
Given this bias against Labour, I fail to see how your position as an independent “fact-checker” is tenable.
The has been Petty George trying to tell other parties how they should do their bizz, having helped make His own political vehicle United Future a political irrelevancy has to be the joke of the day,
A piece of toilet paper while not being as ”transparent’ as Petty George is a 100 times more useful, and this 🙄 …
So what is the definition of “ordinary people”? Because according to the 2012 New Zealand Social Survey just 21% of New Zealanders reported satisfactory results across all four of the surveyed areas of health, money, relationships and housing.
Now relationships generally isn’t the domain of government policy (unless it’s to keep abusive behaviour in check), but Labour is putting in the effort to address the other three areas. I know people who have been helped enormously by Working For Famiilies. Kiwisaver helped me buy my home and plan for my future. And interest free student loans has saved me thousands. By contrast over the past 5 years National has done nothing that it can point to that benefits the people of New Zealand, aside from not rolling back those Labour programmes in the first place. Further, Michael Cullen’s stewardship laid the foundations to weather the GFC better than most countries, although I think he could have done more to keep the housing bubble in check.
Let me ask you a question, Pete. What do you think is the legacy of this government? How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? Because I’m really struggling to see any area at all where Key has improved New Zealand social wellbeing.
Any improvements have been modest and you have to look hard.
Key’s nearly two terms is best known for minimising things getting worse over the course of a New Zealand recession (started under Labour), a Global financial crisis, and major disasters in Christchurch.
Many people see that as a creditable achievement, and probably at least as good as any alternative government could have managed.
It’s been unusual circumstances of economic survival that the country seems to have come through better than expected.
If the National government survives into another term then we will get to see the Key legacy – if it’s any more than a cautious conservative treading water or not when we are expected to recover and grow.
Oh FFS Petey can’t you just answer the fucking questions.
What do you think is the legacy of this government? A: The Blatant Corruption,
How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? A:For the Corruption and deals for the Boys.
See that’s how it’s done Question. Answer. Simple.. And none of your useless bullshit waffling and link whoring!. And no one screaming at you for being a useless T 🙄
Oh pete – labour are the forest not the tree and (even as a non-labour person I can see) that forest is an ecosystem that is complete – until the chainsaws arrive and start cutting – are you a chainsaw pete? Do you want the forest cut down? If a tree is old or diseased a big gust of Mcgully-wind can blow it down – that tree is uprooted. The forest remains, ever changing.
.I would like to see what the new tree Kelvin Davis has to offer and what he stands on….get to know him….a guest post/interview ?…. or a statement from him on open mike would be much appreciated
…particularly on where he stands on Charter Schools and Standards testing…there does seem to be a bit of confusion on where exactly he does stand on these issues
…the sooner we get to know him the sooner Jones will recede into the past
NZ also needs to hear Labour’s clearly stated views on the new EDUCANZ group.
We currently have a Minister of Education who says that Teachers need to lead the charge whilst not wanting teachers involved in deciding where that charge is headed.
Labour’s caucus righties still don’t get how strong the base of the party is. We have comprehensively outplayed them. Jones simply figured that the path to leadership is now determined not by caucus factions, but by the whole.
Goff and King and Mallard will see caucus slowly tilt away from factions, and towards merit alone demonstrated to us all.
This PG bullshit is getting tedious, I wish he would advise on how the TS site should be run…
[lprent: ummm… I’m not sure how I feel about people trying to encourage push people into the propeller blades. Perhaps you should desist so I don’t find out how I feel about it. ]
PG just Fuck Off, you are nothing but a waste of Oxygen.
[lprent: If you don’t put a point or even some wit to go with the abuse, then don’t make the comment. Otherwise I’ll eventually get irritated and start banning repeat offenders. ]
So Jones sells out for a few pieces of silver.
The Noise Jones made over the Countdown super market chain
Was obviously designed to up his transfer fees.
The snide flipant attitude over shower flow rates prior to 2008 election were designed to unseat Labour so Hey could have a tilt at leading labour.
Now all chances of becoming leader have gone.
Sabotage is his payback for not getting what He wants .
For all his intellect.
Jones is just a self centered highly egotistical dickhead.
I think what came up about Shane Jones donors supports the arguement for the Trust account DC set up. He didn’t know the donors, so could not be influence by them. That was the intention. Shows integrity.
Jones knew whos his donors were and what a surprize! not. Anti green, pro mining and secret meetings with National about a job………….Shane “what’s in it for me” Jones.
I seem to remember him saying about DC after the leadership contest that he lost, “I offer DC my unstinting loyalty”…………..Yeah right.
Dover Samuels, John Tamihere, Bassett, all has been’s, yesterday’s men, all trumpeting the right wing framing of Jones having tossed His toys, class traitors in other words,
Shane Who, has been a waste of space in both the Labour Government and the Labour Opposition, His quitting is the only positive in a career that has been singularly damaging to the Party,
Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,
Good riddance is what the left should be shouting back at the fools touting Jones as any champion of the working class,
The sooner Labour clean out the old gaurd right wingers from the Caucus the better, Jones wont be missed past the next ‘frenzy item’ seized upon by what is an obviously bored media…
i don’t usually bother addressing your comments BM, that is probably because conversing with the dumb while having its amusing moments is really an exercise in futility,
Take your current comment for instance, ”Labour winning the election” is the thinking of the Neanderthal,
Labour has No chance of winning the election, in 2014 though, the Left has every chance of doing just that….
Employees must once again unionise and organise in order to exercise collective bargaining power over employers, particularly larger and corporate employers.
Even better, co-ops of workers need to start taking over and democratically running their own work places, instead of taking orders from some faraway Man who doesn’t even understand the business.
I think all businesses need to become cooperatives with the present shareholders becoming either bond or loan holders and no say in the running of the company. Only those who work there would have any say in the direction of the company.
Why don’t workers just set up businesses like this? There’s nothing to stop them.
Yes there is. Several things in fact:
1.) Finances (this is systemic – our entire system is against it)
2.) Improper education
3.) Raised in an abusive and dysfunctional family (admittedly, 2 & 3 tend to go together)
and more that I just can’t think of right now.
How many workers want to take on the responsibility of running the business they work for?
Are you just thick or a complete idiot? The Labour party was formed for the betterment of the people and the country by the workers who were exploited by the wealthy. In the modern world, workers come from innumerable professions, not just miners etc that helped form the party in its beginning days. It is the Labour party principles, policies and programmes that has made New Zealand a better place for everyone, men and women, children and the elderly, employees and the employers, the unemployed and the poor, and even the rich pricks that now infest the greedy ungrateful right wing parties such as National and ACT that are spitting on the poor and the ordinary people with their unfair, unjust, selfish policies, while happily copying many of the great social policies of the last Labour government.
But for the Labour’s socialist principles, you would be on pittance wages languishing on 12 hour days, women’s rights would be pretty much non existent like in some middle east countries, homophobia and discrimination would continue unabated etc, etc. Innumerable progress has been made and lots more needs to be done for justice, environment, equity, freedom, true prosperity etc
“Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,”
He’d only be a class traitor if he was a blue collar worker. But he never was blue collar. Groomed as a future leader from a very early age, wasn’t he?
Anyway as far as I’m concerned it’s a clean out out of the Labour right, who contradict L(l)abour ideals anyway.
It’s a class war BM and you know that because you are one of its participants. An ongoing class war that the 1% who hold the largest share of capital wealth wages every day against the 99% who do not.
You’re on a site with many who are well versed in political economics, so have some respect and please don’t treat the rest of us as ignorant.
It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.
If you picked out 100 random people in the street and then told them we’re fighting a class war, they’d think you’re a complete lunatic that should be locked in a padded cell.
“It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.”
ROFL why are you still trying it on? When you are one of the participants in this very class war?
Perhaps you should learn about NZ history, check out the great strike of 1913, also how the Liberal Government broke up all the large land holdings of the richest families in the 1890’s. And of course, the dispossesion of the entire working class in the 1980’s and 1990’s due to Rogernomics and Ruthanasia.
Class traitor, phfft what a load of shit, you’re not Pomgolia now, we don’t do classes down here.
Really, and I could have sworn that we just had a couple of high-class bludgers go through NZ at our expense.
This hang up you lefties have on putting people in boxes/classes is the reason why you’re failing.
That has got to be psychological projection. It’s the left that are trying to break down the class barriers while the RWNJs always seem to be trying to build them up.
Yes there are. there’s the rich, the middle class, the poor and now the precariat. Just because you want to deny reality and insist these classes don’t exist doesn’t make them any less true.
I’ve already given you the broad categories, look it up for yourself. Not your research service.
And I’ll add one more: deliberately reduced and declining income share of labour (i.e. workers) with respect to GDP, with the difference siphoned off to corporations and capitalist owners.
In their book on inequality The Spirit Level, British researchers Wilkinson and Pickett devote a whole chapter to showing the different ways that entrenched inequality reduces social mobility.
But you have researched this more of course by reading Slater’s opinion and then repeating it.
“if you want to make the effort …. the opportunity is there.”
Ever play video games BM?
I ask coz there’s this thing on many of them in ‘settings’ where you can dial things up and down, and make the game easier.
You know?
Your dude might have more hit points, or it might make the enemies a bit dumber, or fewer, that sort of thing.
Imagine that in a multi-player game, and some folks get their settings set, by society, a bit easier on most of the settings. They will find it easier, and if they don;t get that are playing at an advantage, they are gonna think they are shit hot at this game.
It’s in the interest of the Tories to pretend that they are not waging war against the under class and working class – stealth is the only way they can get away with it.
That is ridiculous. The Government (I assume the “Tories” is some unheard of label you have for the New Zealand Government. Funny I thought it was some ancient English political faction) presides over a $27 billion welfare safety net. You are seriously deluded.
Hey Shitlands. All you’ve pointed out is that the Tories have some remnant electoral self preservation instinct. They know that they cannot dismantle the NZ welfare state expeditiously and have to instead dismantle it bit by bit, while demonising the vulnerable and the poor on the way. And your point is?
You are seriously deluded.
What’s a servant of the power elite like you who has never voted in NZ care anyway?
SSpylands, I have serious concerns about your memory. Your confusion about the word “tory” sounded familiar, and less that 30sec using the search box says you were taught about that word last September, and again in October. Try reading those comment branches again before (once again) removing all doubt as to your stupidity.
I’m especially concerned that such a stupid fucking idiot, as you obviously must be, claims to be/have been involved in formulation of government policy.
Perhaps that would explain why you are obviously unaware that the nats are destroying the $27bil welfare safety net loop by “application declined” loop.
Or maybe you think it’s a sophisticated distraction to plead ignorance about a two-syllable word and then argue that the fact the government hasn’t completely destroyed something means that the government must be actively preserving it. Well, an idiot feels compelled to double down on his own idiocy, I guess.
Politics is hard mistress. I just watched the David Cunliffe interview on the Paul Henry Show from Tuesday night. Respect! Respect! David was very calm despite the best efforts of that psychotic arse. I’ll bathe in Dettol!
Education
The US middle class income falling faster than any OECD country WHy.
Education has been identified as the cause of decline.
Decline in Pisa scores directly related to decline in income.
And we are adopting the same policies that have lead to this decline.
Yes as Kelvin Davis is a teacher …i would like to see/hear his views on Charter Schools and Standards Testing enunciated here for all to see/hear…just so we can have confidence in him.
On the surface he looks like a very fortunate replacement for Shane
btw….why is Morning Report bringing out Bassett….of ACT to criticise the Labour Party and Cunliffe….Bassett is an old ‘has been’ Rogernom….he is the last person who should be critiquing Labour and Cunliffe….he was part of the cabal that just about destroyed Labour
….what is Morning Report doing?…is it now a mouthpiece for ACT?
….that said I thought John Tamihere was very good ….cant he be brought back into the Labour Party fold?…he has done his time for his ‘crime’ insensitivity to women ( a crime many others have committed on the Left) ….and he was very popular on radio …he could be a big draw card for Neathandral Man …Labour working men.
What did you really expect when they put Espiner in there the other week. I have listened only once to Morning Report since he took over, it took me about 40 mins of Espiner to change the channel to something reasonable, like Radio Live.
The US middle class income falling faster than any OECD country WHy.
Education has been identified as the cause of decline.
Decline in Pisa scores directly related to decline in income.
Uh, you’re incorrect on this count, unfortunately. You’ve mistaken cause and effect.
What getting a higher education means today in the USA is being highly qualifiedand stacking shelves or flipping burgers on the minimum wage, with a massive and unrepayable student loan.
The true cause of the collapse of the US middle class is far more complex – and has to do with the power elite exporting all solid working class jobs out of the nation and then systematically destroying the value of peoples property and pension funds.
ONE News headline ” Labour in damage control “:National a safe pair of hands “.
“Labour party has definately been hurt”- Corinn Dann.
yet “Jones often acted as a wedge between Labour and the Greens” , refused to work with Norman – Michael Parkin with a side order of Pagani spin, “it’s a warning sign”
Gower- “…risks being punished in the polls.”
Plenty of balance there was, Not!
Further to the harms of fructose, The WHO new recommendations for daily sugar intake, 5% of total daily food intake. Equals about 6 teaspoons.
If cut back, takes about four days of unsettling withdrawals.
That doesn’t quite make sense, the WHO 5% of daily food intake that is, i would have to weigh my total food intake for a day,(which is probably a good idea to do for a week), but, am pretty sure that if liquids are included then the daily intake is over ‘ a kilo’,
Me thinks i will do that starting next Monday, weighing both solid food and liquid intake to see what my normal diet weighs,(weekends are now the ‘fasting diet’ to keep the kilo’s falling off),
Dieting is interesting, i have found that even the vege and fruit diet can add body weight, which suggests weight loss is more a matter of ‘how much’ of ‘anything’ is the key,
Still think unless a ‘scientific case’ can be made for adding sugar to food can be made then Legislation is needed to have it removed from food items that are not classed specifically as sweets,or at the least, a large label being a requirement to show the number of spoons of sugar a serving of the product contains per serving,
Last nights Third Degree was a shallow look at the other side of the health issue ‘fats’, i wasn’t impressed at all,
Obviously the body ‘needs’ some fat/oil so as to be able to transport vital nutrients around the body which otherwise would simply be discharged via the liver down the toilet, i am though sticking with the view of good fats/bad fats…
Dieting is interesting, i have found that even the vege and fruit diet can add body weight, which suggests weight loss is more a matter of ‘how much’ of ‘anything’ is the key,
Weight loss is more a question of getting some exercise.
Exercise is important of course but it is just one factor. For instance, Dr Lustig’s presentation on how large quantities of sugar in the modern diet screws up energy-behaviour metabolism at the brain level is instructive.
Agree and disagree Draco, for those able to ‘up’ the amount of physical activity to burn off the calories its not bad advice,
However, if like me a person has bone or muscle issues which prohibit the ‘upping’ of physical exercise then it has to be diet alone which can be used as the weight loss mechanism…
molasses can be a good substitute for sugar cravings…this is all the minerals /vits etc left over from sugar refining…it is very strong but it can be put in gravies and cakes or on porridge..or just a tsp as a tonic…Red Seal Black Strap Molasses has for a few dollars… manganese( lots), magnesium(lots), iron, calcium( lots), sodium
…a good book to get is : ‘Stay Healthy by Supplying Whats lacking in Your Diet’ by David Coorey….for $25..(NZ publishing House .Private Bag 12029, Tauranga…(Tel: 0800 140 141)
( it gives an index of health symptoms/deficiencies /foods that supply essential vits/minerals for these deficiences eg …advice for weight loss, diabetes, alcohol cravings ,eye sight , dementia, gout, migraines , chloresterol, osteoporosis, gum disease, chronic fatigue, tinnitus….etc.etc.).. you can be your own doctor before your symptoms get out of control…it is very budget friendly …i hardly ever see a doctor!..nor does my family)
Lolz thanks Chooky, but, spending 25 bucks on a book here isn’t an option, i have tho Google as a friend and can find it all out from the basic to the uni studies online,
Molasses sounds quite interesting and i will check out the cost on my next food forage in the supermarket, still sugar tho,(even tho it contains a good amount of those essential minerals), and, i have to watch total intake,
That sugar craving at a certain point as you cut down is quite an acute one, psychological more than physical,(for me anyway), i have cut down from 2 teaspoons in my tea mug all the time to 1 teaspoon and then onto 1 teaspoon every fourth cuppa,
My fruit intake has tho tripled from what has been the lifelong (bad) habit and there are plenty of sugars in fruit, weight has dropped to 95 kilo from 110 kilo at Christmas, i am tho doing mini crash diets on weekends to make up for my bad habit of making big yummy veg and fish meals and then scoffing the lot…
Political junkie question of the day.
What do Dunedin North, Mangere Maungakiekie, Mt Albert, Rongotai, and the 7 Maori electorates have in common and why is this grim news for Labour?
No party has been the sole inhabitant of government for more than 20 years – National may have the numbers to be sole inhabitant in September but John Key will share government with willing support parties as he plans to win in 2017 and 2021 assuming we have a 4 year term by then.
National don’t like sharing power – that was why they took over Act. Sure, they still had to get UF and the mP on board but they knew that they’d be able to buy them up quite easily and that, once bought, they’d stay bought as the mP just proved.
Sure, I think davis is better than jones by a country mile but…
“It gives me a platform and the resources of an MP to campaign. Otherwise, I would have just been an unemployed bum trying to be a candidate. So it helps my profile and there are more opportunities to get in the media.”
…yes Davis needs to be open about what he stands for ..we need to get statements from him so he is on record
Shane chose him…this is a worry!…also that he worked for the Ministry of Education, which has been hopelessly compromised by its Minister and ACT private company lobbyists for Charter Schools
We dont want another new Trojan Horse in the Labour Party
Cunliffe’s job is hard enough as it is….. with all the old Rogernomes guard still unretired
Has labour got so desperate that they have to have children protest.
Can they no longer find any adults to do their protesting.
Perhaps they are getting ready with twelve year olds to try and win the 2022 election.
Just saying.
I am a pensioner and this time my vote is with national.
[lprent: Looking at your email address, I’d have been surprised if you’d ever voted for anyone apart from National and/or Act.
In my experience, Labour and the left usually manages to turn out thousands for their larger protests when the right and National can usually turn out mere handfuls. So I’d suspect that the reason that children were turning out would probably have something to do with how whatever it is affects them.
However, putting a link or even a reference into the story you’re talking about would probably help people with understanding what you are indignant about. I currently have no idea and your comment gives no hint. Please try to do better next time.
Jim47 seems to believe from this article that it was a Labour Party – day out holiday activity for the kiddies. Reading comprehension levels shown by his comment indicate that it is probably fairly unlikely that any written comment “helping him out” will do much to change his mind.
Well put Molly, Jim47 is obviously an idiot by design or genetic irresponsibility on the part of other’s,
The kids involved in giving Slippery the Prime Minister ‘the message’ were all locals who fully understand what is happening as the PM and un-Housing Minister Smith re-arrange the deck chairs of the HousingNZ estate using the publicity of the mass media to mask the 20%–42.5 billion dollar asset sale they are attempting by flogging off the housing of the poorest in our communities,
The State Houses bowled over to make way for the ‘pensioner housing’ would have previously housed their cousins and friends so on whatever level they understand what is occurring understand it they do,
The only visible political presence at this protest,was that of the Mana Party…
Lolz the Bank Robbery of the century, with inflation at a miserly 1.5% the Reserve Bank Governor in an act of ”kill it befor it grows” kneecaps the economy and acts to profit the Trading Banks with windfall profits of billions of dollars in added interest payments…
Even if some people aren’t concerned by the rise in interest rates, Stuff’s website shows one of its notorious polls, just putting its foot in the water for the elite, as it knows damn well that people struggling to pay their mortgages is electoral poison. http://www.stuff.co.nz/
BTW The wording of these polls is appalling.
Will higher interest rates hurt you?
Yes, I’m not happy
No, I planned for them
Bring them on, I’m a saver
I disagree there Draco, assuming you are talking about NZ printing our own cash not continuing to borrow from the Central Banks.
If a 1% interest rate was levied on all loans from the Government to home owners, new business ventures etc, then that is another stable resource for making contributions to the UBI fund. Of course this is in addition to the % taken by the Robin hood Tax when the loan is made operational.
You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income. It doesn’t. The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.
Not sure I am completely clear on your endgame there Draco.
No taxes of any sort?
How does Government function without an income? Do Governments just print money with no controls at all? That is what the central Banks do now and look where that has gotten us.
How do roads get built?
How does Healthcare function?
Education?
Civil Defence?
Police and the Military ?? (if we still have to have them 🙂 )
I must be missing something obvious …
(no-job stress has me missing sleep, I know that much )
Yes money is a lie and interest compounds that lie.
Yes together they are a powerful force but it does not have to be a destructive force.
As I said, maybe I have misunderstood what you mean.
How does Government function without an income? Do Governments just print money with no controls at all?
It’s not a question of functioning without an income but realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government. And, yes, there would be rules.
How do roads get built?
How does Healthcare function?
Education?
Civil Defence?
Police and the Military ?
The same way that they do now – by paying the people doing them.
(excuse the delay in responding Draco, I had stuff to do)
Originally you were talking about interest not being needed.
“When there’s no reason for them to have interest rates on at all. No loans should have interest on them.”
“The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.”
You then seemed to shift the same idea onto taxes.
“realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government”
In any economy, taxes and interest are not really the same thing.
“You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income.” Taxes are Government income. As much as created or borrowed funds are.
The not repaying loans idea is pretty out there, I just do not see how an economy functions that way. Governments supply new money, check. It gets distributed into the economy via bank loans, mortgages etc, check. . . .and then what?
It just doesn’t get repaid ?
In any economy, taxes and interest are not really the same thing.
Good job I didn’t treat them as being the same then. Repayment of the loan does not include interest – that’s added on top in the present system and I’ve specifically said that loans won’t have interest.
The not repaying loans idea is pretty out there, I just do not see how an economy functions that way. Governments supply new money, check. It gets distributed into the economy via bank loans, mortgages etc, check. . . .and then what?
It just doesn’t get repaid ?
Well, you certainly didn’t get that from me either. Nowhere did I say that the money wouldn’t be removed from the system afterwards. All, I’ve said is that there was no need of interest and that there shouldn’t be any interest charged. In fact, you even quoted the bit where I said it would be returned/removed/destroyed.
When Interest Rates are low, Key/English trumpet their clever stewardship.
When Interest Rates rise it is the independent Reserve Bank’s work.
Funny that?
Can’t recall Labour ever boasting about low interest rates but I can remember them saying that the interest rates weren’t up to them due to the RBNZ being independent and the rates were the result of the market. I don’t think many people bought it though as most were already starting to realise that the market was code for the rich getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
The OCR increasing 3% won’t just hurt those who already have mortgages, it will lock many middle income home buyers out of the market. Also, the amount of mortgagee auctions will likely continue to increase under this regime.
People having less money to spend will assuredly slow the economy, which is only showing signs of recovery because commodity prices have increased. Increased spending is a result of things costing more, not because people are buying more. A lack of competition in the retail sector will also effect the housing bubble in a bad way because people won’t be able to save for a deposit on their first home.
Along with the 20% lending criteria, an already slowing market and unprecedented overinflation, now is clearly not the right time to be locked into a mortgage. Such assets will not be liquid because many thousands of Kiwis will be trapped renting forever.
If some better policies aren’t implemented soon, homeowners and investors will start to lose equity and our housing stock will be further degraded. In the long run that won’t benefit anybody, not even the speculators.
“policies” have a very limited role in halting climate change when a centuries worth of built economic and logistical infrastructure of your entire country is predicated on fossil fuels.
I wonder what the rest of the Labour MPs are thinking about Jones leaving, I mean it must be pretty gutting knowing that National think that Jones is such a big threat that they create a job for him but for every other Labour MP theres nothing 🙂
Of course he was a threat, waitakere man and all that. He was smart, spoke well and appealed to a cross-section of people and National took out one of Labours weapons
That’d be another plus for labour but I doubt if he will. He actually seems to want to do something about poverty unfortunately he still thinks capitalism can.
Drivel, 5 and a half years of Opposition and all Jones has come out with is a rave about supermarkets which the Commerce Commission is likely to have the final say of ”nothing to see here folks”, on,
Jones is gone, good riddance, a waste of space in every sense of the word…
Revisiting the Fossil Fuel company contributions to global warming printed by the Guardian some months ago (noted by a Standardista), and thought to have a look at what other graphics may have been produced.
They were working on an Open Corporates map, one that shows the complex web of company ownership and control on a global scale. One problem is that small countries often were the best locations for companies to operate from, and so would have too much overlap when plotting companies. Their solution: to upscale the country in a honeycomb fashion to indicate the company’s presence there.
I had a look at Goldman Sachs – on their live version which was produced in UK summer of 2013, and was surprised to the relative size of NZ.
(To see the chain of ownership, just hover over one of the companies (circles) on the map)
We discover now that ACC, Collins, thinks people having accidents is a choice. We’ve understood for sometime now that Bennett believes people choose unemployment and under-employment. How
long is it before Key believes, like ACT, that proportionality is wrong in sentencing, and retrospective laws are all okay.
It beggars belief that any liberty loving citizen could vote for this far right government and not vomit in shame.
Referring to Jones, Mr Cunliffe stated that when a totara falls, other totara will grow in its place. Mr Parekura Horamia was a true totara. To me, Jones is no totara. In my opinion he has instead just shown himself to be a farterer creating bad stink.
I asked my uncle about the first world war and he talked about the horses.
I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines that they shot horses who were stuck or could no longer pull the guns and he thought it was wrong that animals who had nothing to do with the war were made to suffer and die, while men who could choose did the goading and the killing.
I don’t remember him going to Anzac Day Parades or wearing the red poppy, and he never showed me his medals.
Yep. Let us remember…the sheer brutality and utter inhumanity of outright warfare, where it is virtually always the civilians and the children who suffer the most egregious crimes.
My post was not about Le Quesnoy, it was about something altogether different: the rounding up and murder of more than one hundred unarmed men and boys in the village of Surafend. And the fact that the RSA’s magazine ran poems PRAISING the massacre.
Courage takes many forms , being a keyboard warrior isn’t one of them.
And rounding up civilians and battering them to death certainly is not courageous.
Or perhaps “Blue” thinks those Anzac murderers and the others who said nothing were courageous?
Blair’s anti-democratic tirade
by SEUMAS MILNE, The Guardian
Wednesday 23 April 2014
The neocons are back. That toxic blend of messianic warmongering abroad and McCarthyite witch-hunting at home – which gave us Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo and the London bombings – is coursing through our public life again. Yesterday the liberal interventionists’ hero, Tony Blair, was once more demanding military action against the “threat of radical Islam”.
Reprising the theme that guided him and George Bush through the deceit and carnage of the “war on terror”, the former prime minister took his crusade against “Islamism” on to a new plane. The west should, he demanded, make common cause with Russia and China to support those with a “modern” view against the tide of political Islam.
But he also demanded military intervention against Syria – backed by Russia – along with more “active measures” to help the armed opposition, which is dominated by Islamists and jihadists. It’s a crazy combination with an openly anti-democratic core: the Middle East peace envoy also warmly endorsed the Egyptian dictatorship, along with the repressive autocracies of the Gulf.
Quite why the views of a man whose military interventions in the Muslim world have been so widely discredited, who has been funded by the Kazakhstan dictator and is regarded by up to a third of the British public as a war criminal, should be treated with such attention by the media isn’t immediately obvious. But one reason is that they chime with those of a powerful section of the political and security establishment.
In Britain, the campaign against Islamist “extremism” is once again in full flow. In fact, it is open season on the Muslim community. For the past few weeks reports have multiplied about an alleged “Islamic plot”, code-named Operation Trojan Horse, to take control of 25 state schools in Birmingham and run them on strict religious principles.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, a long-time neoconservative supporter of Blair’s wars and Islamist witchfinder general, responded by sending in an army of inspectors to hunt down extremists and appointing….
So Jones is off to help the Pacific Islands exploit the fish that swim in “their” waters.
When is this organism – homo sapiens – going to understand that it does not have domain over
and automatic right to gather the creatures of the sea?
No problem with people catching fish off the rocks but once they put to sea in boats …
I look forward to viewing your link showing where any cetacean comes ashore to pillage the land!
🙄
Just looking at ministerial expenses. Thanks No right turn. Why on earth doesn’t the NZ government have a blanket no alcohol policy. If you want to drink, you pay for it yourself. I’m sure other governments would be delighted to get their people back alcohol free.
For example Tim Grosser went to the Atlantic on the 9th Oct 13 for a “working dinner” food was $678 and drinks $433 the bulk of which was alcohol.How much much work was likely to be done when drinking.
And in New York he appears to be spending about $300 for three bottles of wine. And in July his P/S ( private secretary ) had lunch at the Circa Foggy Bottom. Near headquarters perhaps?
Apologies if it’s has already been noted (I haven’t been around for the last two days since the news of Jone’s departure has hit) but aren’t the right getting all frothy about it?
The RWNJ’s have come out from under their damp logs en masse to comment here, the media are spinning so hard that they could collectively, if connected to a generator power a large city (Just one example among many, from yesterday: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9968055/Jones-job-offer-not-shot-at-Labour-PM ) and the real life righties are agog.
The real life examples:
Discussion with visitor, a former ACT Party member and National voter on the topic of Shane Jone’s decision to leave, their view: ” I’m really disappointed, Shane Jones was the only decent down to earth one among the lot of them”…………Fine if you like misogynist corporate lobbyists, oh, right, you do………
And this little gem seen one an outdoor cafe blackboard in the Ohariu electorate: “Shane Jones: A loss to us all”. This guys’ not taking the piss. Its the same business owner that had “The jury is always right” written on his blackboard the day after Clint Rickards was not found guilty of rape in 2006 and once had a sign saying “if you don’t want to pay the surcharge on public holidays turn around and leave now”. (Touching that Jone’s inspired such sorrow in such a RWNJ’s heart)
What’s got them so ruffled? The prospect of a Labour Green led government advancing forward after 20th September, unencumbered by Jones, no longer there to “keep the Greenies in check”? I guess they are scared………….
I am very scared at the thought of the Greens anywhere near finance books. Labour near the books is not so bad but the Greens will wreck this country quicker then you can say green economy
Lol you PR. If you’re scared (of your imagination telling you “the Greens will wreck this country…) does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?
“does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?”
I expect National regain power (in fact I’d bet on it but most of the people on here are gutless so no one would take it) however a Labour/greens win is of course always a possibility
I’d be more worried by these jokers remaining in power.
Gradually indebting the country to foreign interests.
And yet you slavishly support them pr.
Pathetic, really.
“Government debt has reached $60 billion, having climbed $27 million a day since John Key became prime minister – and forecasts show it will rise for years to come.
Despite tax revenue being higher than expected and expenses lower in recent months, Treasury figures show net Crown debt reached the highest yet at $60,015,000,000 at the end of September.
It already equates to 28 per cent of New Zealand’s economic output, is more than $13,000 for every person in New Zealand and is forecast to climb by another $10b by 2017.
When National took control of the Beehive in 2008, debt was just over $10b.”
…because an approach of winning on merit just wouldn’t work for crap-policies-and-no-friends-National
….and spreading dissent is the only way they can get votes -that is by creating disharmony amongst us is it not?
‘Vote for National and have an increasingly divided country.’
National in power is whats best for NZ so National will do what it needs to do to win, Labour will attempt to do what it needs to do to win (it will fail though)
“its the right trying to spread dissent so that less people will vote for Labour”
Aha! Which comes back to being scared. Or at least a bit anxious and uncomfortable about the possibility of a Left win, which you do admit above, could happen.
I expect it could happen too, especially if UF, ACT and Maori fail to prop up the Natz.
The earth has warmed rapidly over the past century due mainly to human activity, and especially over the past few decades. The increased greenhouse effect has warmed the land and air and melted ice, but most of it (about 90%) has gone into heating the oceans. Several Skeptical Science contributors worked together to publish a scientific paper1 which combined the land, air, ice, and ocean warming data. It found that for recent decades the earth has been heating at a rate of 250 trillion Joules per second.
“Joules per second” is a difficult unit of measure to appreciate, and is especially foreign to people who are unfamiliar with science. This widget attempts to put that heating into terms that are easier to visualize. 250 trillion Joules per second is equivalent to:
Detonating four Hiroshima atomic bombs per second
Experiencing two Hurricane Sandys per second
Enduring four 6.0 Richter scale earthquakes per second
Being struck by 500,000 lightning bolts per second
Exploding more than eight Big Ben towers, with every inch packed full of dynamite, per second
Is “joules per second” too hard for you, Fisiani? That why they make picture books and widgets. Now remember to use your manners and say thank you.
sorry, couldnt reply to BM above. not all of us want to be rich, some of us like working for a wage, i enjoy my job. but that doesn’t mean i should get shit wages &/or job insecurity. there’s got to be a better way of structuring wealth & work, so people can earn decent wages & the bosses still get to buy their convertables for their latest barbie girl etc…
Yeah and it’s a curious one that the establishment applies to the teaching profession, particularly primary level. Apparently the meme is that individuals enter teaching for the love of it and not for the money. This has been twisted to, “We don’t have to pay them much because they do it for love.”
same with the aged care workers, & nurses i imagine, where a lot of work gets done not because they get paid for it but because they care, they will go the extra mile & help each other out. must run into the millions this unpaid work ppl do.
It’s pretty much across every sector. If you love you’re work you’ll get paid less and no employer will hire anybody who doesn’t love the work and they won’t hire you if you show no enthusiasm for working for the company either.
I sent an email to David Cunliffe and am interested in his reply. I wanted to know what his motives are for repairing the Gisborne/Napier rail if elected. There are concerns among the locals in Gisborne that Labour are using this to get Napier votes. Many locals here feel he wants to take a piece of Gisborne’s booming forestry to create opportunities for Napier. Unfortunately for us, this means making Napier Port busy, creating large volumes of logs for them. It seems a cynical move by Labour, compounded by the fact Mr Cunliffe and Ms Mackey are silent on the issue, declaring they want to open up the Gisborne to Napier rail line without properly explaining how it will benefit Gisborne. I am a Labour voter but personally I agree with National (which I have never done before) that it is not viable enough and will cost millions to repair the damaged line. It also hits home as we are employees in the forestry industry here, the good wages help us enjoy a reasonable quality of life and we can give our kids opportunities. I hope Mr Cunliffe can assure us that our jobs and our Eastland Port are not at threat and will not be impacted by diverting logs directly to Napier, affecting employees whom service those logs here.
Napier port has far superior log handling and storage facilities than Gisborne. Major shipping lines actually stop in Napier. The rail line is no threat to the jobs from the forests.
The alternative of no rail line is all those logging trucks going onto the highway on High Volume trailer trucks – which is dangerous and expensive. That highway maintenance and safety cost falls on us taxpayers. By rail that cost falls where it should onto the logging companies.
Remember when there was a rail station and jobs in Gisborne? Time to bring those jobs back.
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
Collins: she and Key are guilty and they have to be held to account. Keep up the good work Grant Robertson.
Dunne: allowing him to continue with the legal highs job while his son is making a fortune from the sales of the shit is not tolerable in this society. Key is failing in his role.
Jones? An oxygen thief not worth any further effort.
Pam Corkery had a go at the Dunne father and son connection yesterday.
Jones afraid that a Labour-Green government was a real possibility?
Mr Jones, ask not what your party can do for you: ask what you can do for your party.
Left politics are not helped by politicians more focused on their own career ambitions than the good of the country.
Totally agree there, Karol.
And so it continues. He just can’t help it, can he. It’s his overinflated ego and the imaginary hurt because the plebs haven’t figured out what a great leader he is.
Seriously, Shane, can’t you just STFU?
I’m waiting for the term “naked ambition” to be applied to Jones – remember when it was used by the MSM regularly about Cunliffe? Compare and contrast.
Far from it. In fact the sentence “Labour has now got to find a way of appealing to its traditional blue collar workers” and variations on it, has been repeated like a mantra on this morning’s Morning Report, with David Shearer and Damien O’Connor among those quoted.
Never mind the fact that Jones offered such people nothing concrete – that whatever appeal he had rested on a smoko-room-anecdote way of talking. Never mind either that the whole sentence seems code for “the building contractor who owns several rentals and hires people from overseas, having judged the locals as bloody useless,” and others of similar persuasion.
The whole business looks more and more like an attempt by the right wing from both inside and outside of the Labour Party to subvert the will of left-voting people while pretending to heed it.
Shearer has been a bit more of a dick over the past few days.
Well said Olwyn.
+1
“..“Labour has now got to find a way of appealing to its traditional blue collar workers”..”
there is a simple three word answer/solution to that:..
..policy..policy..policy..
@ olwyn..+ 1…
Well I for one am appalled at what’s been happening in the Labour Party. Jones? a minor distraction, blown out of all proportion by the MSM, and reinforced by dickheads in the Labour Party. Glad it happened now, so I can now look to another party that will WANT my vote (Greens, Mana). and not Labour saying we don’t care if you vote for us. Because that’s the message I am getting. That and ‘We can’t organise Sex in a brothel’.
Here in Wanaka people just laugh when I talk about Labour or Greens. Phrases like “a house divided cannot stand” and “country’s doing great” for Labour, and “ewwww!” And “ha hahaaa” for Greens.
Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.
Quite bracing. Pour me a Pinot.
you need to get to know more local Wanaka families, and fewer recent (last 10 years) imports from Auckland, Wellington and overseas.
lolz, nice on CV.
The GP candidate in the Waitaki electorate is a well known Wanaka person and did quite well over there.
“Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.”
In other words, Wanaka is being turned into an industrial dairying cesspit like everywhere else. Will be interesting to see how the farmers get on with the tourism lobby and lifestyle block real estate agents in ten years time.
Is that where they truck in cheap labour,oh thats QTN.your next though.
John Key in denial as he visits the front line for the war on the poor.
He’s talking up the better state houses on offer, and fails to mention the cut backs in amount of state housing, while communtiies are destroyed.
Ooops, didn’t see your comment here when i posted one on the same thing below, Slippery and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith must have picked up a sense of disquiet from among the voters in the ‘focus groups’ about the ripping apart of the HousingNZ estate to be using the media in what seems like a week long ‘charm offensive’ where they are spending time ‘highlighting’ what few new build HousingNZ complexes have been completed by this regime…
Nice to see that they were warmly received, and that the people were so happy with the truth they were being told by the TricKey one. Why they even donated eggs for his dinner. And still he moans.
It’s nice to know the poor aren’t so badly off that they can’t afford to waste eggs… our brighter future
Interesting framing for the first article to be posted on this in the Herald yesterday, which manages to insinuate Mana Party for staging it all: PM’s car egged during state housing protests.
Comments allowed on this article, unsurprisingly, and some live up to the quality of reporting.
Molly. I notice that a lot of the comments have disappeared, and there are only 13 left. WTF.
Herald comments are bizarre – never really know what is going on there…
so..jones and mccully have been talking about this ‘job’ for jones since 2009..
..key sez that national ‘has had good dialogue with jone..for a long time’..
..basically..jones has been nationals’ mole/man within labour..
..since at least 2009…
..yeah..some ‘loss’ for labour he’s now surfaced/broken cover..and returned to his paymasters…
..and walk like a traitor..quack like a traitor..
..you probably are nothing more that a traitor..
..(jones gone is good news for labour..
..the braying/bought-fool will bray no more..
..but he still stays ‘bought’..
..forever..
..what a shabby ending to a political-career..eh..?
..by his ongoing treachery jones has guaranteed himself a small historical-footnote..
..but we are told..he ‘coulda been a contender!’…
..a man sunk by his hubris/ignorances/for sale sign around his neck..
..when you look at jones..
..he was/is pretty much on ‘the wrong side’ of everything..
..his latest move just confirms that long pattern..
..jones sells out to the planet-fuckers..
..those really on ‘the wrong side’..)
”One, two, three, four, stop the war on the poor, Maraenui under attack, stand up and fight back”, so chanted the kids of Maraenui a Napier suburb with a heavy concentration of State housing as Slippery the Prime Minister arrived to gush over the opening of some new pensioner housing,
Having all the gastronomic fortitude of your average Rat the PM then tried to do a bunk out the back way to avoid the protest, unfortunately someone forgot to tell the driver of the limo of the change of plan and the local kids again had the pleasure of voicing their displeasure in the face of the PM along with tossing the occasional missile in the direction of the limo which eventually left bearing the scars,
Slippery later claimed that the kids, mostly 10 to 12 year old’s were ”saying things they didn’t understand” and i suppose to preserve His ego He has to think that, but, can assure the PM that subjecting HousingNZ estates to the forced evictions and demolitions of the current regime and its 20%– $2.5 billion HousingNZ sell off leaves those kids knowing full well what is in store for them,
While it is hard to oppose such actions in the face of the publicity stunts being organized by the current regime where the tame media are being lead around by the nose by the likes of the PM and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith ‘gushing’ over the few completed ‘new build’ HousingNZ complexes we have to remember that for all their worth, and in the future pensioner housing will be like gold with the growth of the aged population, with the proposed shrinking of the States Housing stock by 20% it will be those 10 and 12 year old’s protesting befor the Prime Minister who will be all the worse off in the future,
Poverty has not lessened in this country, the reverse is true, it is not 20% less State Houses that are needed now in our society, it is at least 20% more of such housing that is needed with urgency…
David Cunliffe on Shane Jones “When a totara falls in the forest another totara grows to take it’s place”.
How rooted is the Labour totara?
🙄 , Not near as rooted as the United Future Party which you obviously helped along the way with your ”contribution” George,
Your comment is obviously designed to inflame ‘Open Mike’ this morning and deserves nothing more then this, 🙄 , this 🙄 ,and this, 🙄 …
What a silly comment Pete. I thought you would be coming out with the “Labour is ignoring the working class” line that is being perpetrated right now. By all means do that but how about you do a bit of fact checking beforehand. Read the party’s policy platform and then try and argue the party is not interested in ordinary people.
I think it’s a fair question Greg, it’s something that’s being widely discussed. I understand that it’s the done thing in politics to stoically say everything is fine and a win is imminent, but when the chasm between reality is so wide then it is counter-productive.
The party’s policy is not the problem. The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.
The party might be interested in ordinary people but it doesn’t show much. I’ve seen here and elsewhere since the loss in 2008 that the Labour caucus in particular is out of touch and doesn’t want to hear from ordinary people.
Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments.
It’s a difficult hole to get out of, but continuing to dig and deny won’t do it.
Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.
The first step is admitting the problems. It’s to far gone for stoic bullshit.
If the Labour totara uproots and crashes other parties will grow in the gap, but that takes time, and in the meantime Parliament will be significantly weakened.
🙄 absolute drivel George, 🙄 🙄 🙄 …
No it is not a fair question Pete. It is fact free loaded spin. I thought you were trying to appear balanced.
Michael Basset reflecting common sentiments? Feck his party is now at less than 1% of the vote.
There may be a perception problem. It is because of a bunch of nodding heads reinforcing all the right wing spin that is fed to them and you should reflect on your comments in this regard.
“..a bunch of nodding heads reinforcing all the right wing spin that is fed to them and you should reflect on your comments in this regard..”
given he is one of those (albeit less literate examples of) rightwing nodding-heads..
..that is a bit of an ask..
..and quoting/citing rabid-rightwinger michael ‘just walk on the poor!’ bassett..?
..as the voice of ‘the common man’..?
..heh..!
..that’s funny..!
I didn’t expect a sudden emergence from denial.
Blame right wing spin.
Blame National.
Blame McCully.
Blame the media.
Blame Shane Jones.
Blame small party support that’s irrelevant.
Blame anyone pointing out the emperor’s clothes are in tatters here.
And see how you get on in September.
It may be that a million non-voters are suddenly attracted to a party fiddling while it’s Rome burns.
getting a bit tetchy there Pete!
hey, don’t you have a Budget for Poor People to be working on?
or have you decided it is in the too-hard basket and Politicheck won’t be doing any fact-checking articles on poverty in New Zealand?
Still waiting for the facts Pete. Go on. Have a look at Labour’s policies and tell me which ones will not help ordinary people.
It’s not about the policies Greg. I can agree with most of most of Labour’s policies, and sure, some of them would help ‘ordinary people’ (although spending too much on policies could have negative effects for ordinary people too).
Very few voters read policies. Most people vote mostly on personalities and perceptions of competence.
Policies without power are paltry. If voters think a party doesn’t have the people or competence to win power and run a government then they won’t care what policies promise.
So reality does not matter and perception is all important? So I guess fact checking is a waste of time.
Both reality and perception matter, because people can perceive disconnects from reality.
People can be fooled to perceive things that aren’t real some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Fact checking isn’t a waste of time – it can help people perceive more accurately and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance.
pg..
..you fool none of the people…all the time..
(and..)
“..Fact checking isn’t a waste of time..”
..when are ya gonna go and do some..?
..how is that poverty-fact-check coming along.?
(and..)
“..and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance..?..”
but that is yr oxygen..there..petey..
..’party propaganda and ignorance’..
..eh..?
..that is what you peddle here..
Isn’t it important for a fact checker to put aside perception and determine matters on what is actually occurring?
Ok, can you say what is actually occurring in Labour? Like, actually, and not party spin?
I get it that they are gradually releasing policies.
What is Cunliffe achieving? and What is Labour achieving? You can set the record straight.
“..It’s not about the policies Greg…”
fucken bullshit..
..national promised tax cuts as their way to office..
..an agreement on working towards a guaranteed minimum income from the progressive parties..
..would get many of that million to the ballot-box..
..and surely by now labour must realise this is their path to power..?
..and labour may well have some good policy..
..maybe now the jones-circus/obstacle has left town..
..they can focus on selling that policy..
..talking directly to those ‘blue-collar-workers’..
..telling ‘blue-collar workers’ how a progressive coalition will improve their day-to-day life..
Here’s some data Pete, it’s not as good as we might like, but if you know of better, please share.
What does this data say about who people think “Is out of touch with ordinary people”?
http://www.reidresearch.co.nz/TV3+POLL+RESULTS.html
fact check yo’self Pete.
“Is out of touch with ordinary people”
National leader – 52%
Labour leader – 22%
Estimated from chart January 2014 (a bit outdated).
Cool. There’s more data there too of course that my be relevant to this discussion.
As I noted, the data isn” as good as we might like it, but it’s what we have, unless you have better data to share of course.
So, bearing in mind that:
“Fact checking isn’t a waste of time – it can help people perceive more accurately and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance.”
have a quick look at the following statements, and see if the facts revealed by that data can help clear up any propaganda or ignorance regarding what people think:
1) “Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.”
2) ” The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.”
3) “Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments”
If an election is held today, which party would get your party vote?
If this question is for me – none. The election isn’t being held today. The parties and politicians haven’t put all their offerings and abilities on show yet.
If I vote I’ll decide who for close to or on election day.
But I’ll give you a possibility – if Labour are at 20% in the polls just before the election I’d consider voting for them to help keep them alive, if I thought they deserved it.
Save your pity vote Pete, it’s not needed.
“If an election is held today, which party would get your party vote?”
Pete, you know full well it is a hypothetical question.
Now if you do not want to share who you vote for that is your choice, just stand up tall and proud and say that you prefer not to share such intimate secret knowledge of your deepest soul. People would respect that. But to hide behind such pitiful reasoning when discussing a hypothetical situation is even more bizarre than you being Editor in Chief of a fact checking site.
http://thesaurus.com/browse/hypothetical
So basically it seems that you will decide who to vote for near election day based on their polices, but you will not be voting for Labour unless they need you to “save them”.
In other words, it seems that you have a rather strong disdain for Labour, as you will not consider voting for them on the merits of their actual policies. This is also evident in many other comments you post: whether or not you will admit to it, many of your comments here are strongly anti-Labour in tone or message.
Given this bias against Labour, I fail to see how your position as an independent “fact-checker” is tenable.
The has been Petty George trying to tell other parties how they should do their bizz, having helped make His own political vehicle United Future a political irrelevancy has to be the joke of the day,
A piece of toilet paper while not being as ”transparent’ as Petty George is a 100 times more useful, and this 🙄 …
Hey Bad that’s how Petey gets his answers. If the shit soaks thru then…
Only according to the RWNJs and their pets in the MSM.
So what is the definition of “ordinary people”? Because according to the 2012 New Zealand Social Survey just 21% of New Zealanders reported satisfactory results across all four of the surveyed areas of health, money, relationships and housing.
Now relationships generally isn’t the domain of government policy (unless it’s to keep abusive behaviour in check), but Labour is putting in the effort to address the other three areas. I know people who have been helped enormously by Working For Famiilies. Kiwisaver helped me buy my home and plan for my future. And interest free student loans has saved me thousands. By contrast over the past 5 years National has done nothing that it can point to that benefits the people of New Zealand, aside from not rolling back those Labour programmes in the first place. Further, Michael Cullen’s stewardship laid the foundations to weather the GFC better than most countries, although I think he could have done more to keep the housing bubble in check.
Let me ask you a question, Pete. What do you think is the legacy of this government? How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? Because I’m really struggling to see any area at all where Key has improved New Zealand social wellbeing.
Any improvements have been modest and you have to look hard.
Key’s nearly two terms is best known for minimising things getting worse over the course of a New Zealand recession (started under Labour), a Global financial crisis, and major disasters in Christchurch.
Many people see that as a creditable achievement, and probably at least as good as any alternative government could have managed.
It’s been unusual circumstances of economic survival that the country seems to have come through better than expected.
If the National government survives into another term then we will get to see the Key legacy – if it’s any more than a cautious conservative treading water or not when we are expected to recover and grow.
Oh FFS Petey can’t you just answer the fucking questions.
What do you think is the legacy of this government? A: The Blatant Corruption,
How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? A:For the Corruption and deals for the Boys.
See that’s how it’s done Question. Answer. Simple.. And none of your useless bullshit waffling and link whoring!. And no one screaming at you for being a useless T 🙄
🙄
@ pg..
..are you using ‘rooted’ in its’ conjugal-sense/meaning..?
He’s not using any of the words in any of their senses to convey any meaning, and he’ll probably cry if you ascribe any.
😈 😆
Oh pete – labour are the forest not the tree and (even as a non-labour person I can see) that forest is an ecosystem that is complete – until the chainsaws arrive and start cutting – are you a chainsaw pete? Do you want the forest cut down? If a tree is old or diseased a big gust of Mcgully-wind can blow it down – that tree is uprooted. The forest remains, ever changing.
in this case the ‘mccully-wind’..
..has proven for labour the axiom that ‘it’s an ill wind that bows nobody any good’…
..the diseased-totara has fallen..
..quick may it rot..
marty mars +100.. very good analogy
.I would like to see what the new tree Kelvin Davis has to offer and what he stands on….get to know him….a guest post/interview ?…. or a statement from him on open mike would be much appreciated
…particularly on where he stands on Charter Schools and Standards testing…there does seem to be a bit of confusion on where exactly he does stand on these issues
…the sooner we get to know him the sooner Jones will recede into the past
NZ also needs to hear Labour’s clearly stated views on the new EDUCANZ group.
We currently have a Minister of Education who says that Teachers need to lead the charge whilst not wanting teachers involved in deciding where that charge is headed.
Yep Chooky. Especially “…the sooner we get to know him (Davis) the sooner Jones will recede into the past.” Hear hear.
Kelvin Davis’ statement on FB. Well worth a read.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=776801432351706&id=776784779020038&fref=nf
Labour’s caucus righties still don’t get how strong the base of the party is. We have comprehensively outplayed them. Jones simply figured that the path to leadership is now determined not by caucus factions, but by the whole.
Goff and King and Mallard will see caucus slowly tilt away from factions, and towards merit alone demonstrated to us all.
Get back under your bridge, the Gruff family is due any minute.
united future..not so much a ‘totora’..
..as a twig of ti-tree…
Trying to be clever? Beneath even you Pete 🙄
The Petty George Show roll(eye)s on.
Yesterday he was offering his “support” to The Greens. Today he’s on a ring-barking mission, and he keeps his little bag of poison handy just in case.
This PG bullshit is getting tedious, I wish he would advise on how the TS site should be run…
[lprent: ummm… I’m not sure how I feel about people trying to encourage push people into the propeller blades. Perhaps you should desist so I don’t find out how I feel about it. ]
Don’t argue with an idiot like PG. Onlookers might not be able to tell the difference. Just eye-roll him and he will go away. 🙄
Sure lprent I’ll “desist” from advising PG, cos he always takes my advice 🙄
PG just Fuck Off, you are nothing but a waste of Oxygen.
[lprent: If you don’t put a point or even some wit to go with the abuse, then don’t make the comment. Otherwise I’ll eventually get irritated and start banning repeat offenders. ]
Sorry just got sick of the continual negativity.
David Cunliffe on Shane Jones “When a totara falls in the forest another totara grows to take it’s place”
Is that a quote Pete? Can you please attribute it?
So you see him ( as I do ) as a “Jonesling”, Phillip.
without doubt..
..and the further we get from these revelations of this ongoing treachery/double-dealing of/by jones…
..the stronger the stench will be..
..(i wonder if he/jones realises this yet..?..his guaranteed place in the halls of political infamy..?..)
..now..imagine were this a national party ‘high-flyer’..
..who had been in ‘good dialogue’ with the labour party ‘for a long time’..
..and had now left national..at a crucial pre-election moment..(designed to do the most harm to ‘his’ party..)..
..to ‘work for labour’..in a plum/created/troughing-‘job’..
..i wonder how our corporate/access-media wd handle that scenario..?
..differently from how they are handling this breaking from cover of jones..?
..i’m betting it wouldn’t be ‘national in disarray’..
..it’d likely be all about ‘the treachery/undemocratic-practices of labour’..
..eh..?..
Shane Who???…
They’d be saying how great it is for National now that a cuckoo had left.
I wonder if Murray allowed for Jones 5 knuckle shuffle, when over seas on the company credit card.
So Jones sells out for a few pieces of silver.
The Noise Jones made over the Countdown super market chain
Was obviously designed to up his transfer fees.
The snide flipant attitude over shower flow rates prior to 2008 election were designed to unseat Labour so Hey could have a tilt at leading labour.
Now all chances of becoming leader have gone.
Sabotage is his payback for not getting what He wants .
For all his intellect.
Jones is just a self centered highly egotistical dickhead.
At least Shane Jones told us who donated to his challenge
I think what came up about Shane Jones donors supports the arguement for the Trust account DC set up. He didn’t know the donors, so could not be influence by them. That was the intention. Shows integrity.
Jones knew whos his donors were and what a surprize! not. Anti green, pro mining and secret meetings with National about a job………….Shane “what’s in it for me” Jones.
I seem to remember him saying about DC after the leadership contest that he lost, “I offer DC my unstinting loyalty”…………..Yeah right.
Shane Jones……………good for Tui adds.
Countdown’s proxies will be called on by National for donations. Ralph Norris will be very pleased.
LOL Trotter and Bassett on RNZ morning report commenting on Labour and Jones, no agendas there…
Dover Samuels, John Tamihere, Bassett, all has been’s, yesterday’s men, all trumpeting the right wing framing of Jones having tossed His toys, class traitors in other words,
Shane Who, has been a waste of space in both the Labour Government and the Labour Opposition, His quitting is the only positive in a career that has been singularly damaging to the Party,
Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,
Good riddance is what the left should be shouting back at the fools touting Jones as any champion of the working class,
The sooner Labour clean out the old gaurd right wingers from the Caucus the better, Jones wont be missed past the next ‘frenzy item’ seized upon by what is an obviously bored media…
Yes what labour needs right now is a public purging of people such as Goff,Shearer,Cosgrove,O’Conner.
If Cunliffe is any leader, he’ll start wielding his sword today.
Their destabilizing influence is destroying labour and must be removed before labour can win this years election.
Thanks for your concern, T.R.O.L.L.
Just agreeing with Bad12. 😉
🙂
i don’t usually bother addressing your comments BM, that is probably because conversing with the dumb while having its amusing moments is really an exercise in futility,
Take your current comment for instance, ”Labour winning the election” is the thinking of the Neanderthal,
Labour has No chance of winning the election, in 2014 though, the Left has every chance of doing just that….
As a right wing supporter, why do you post as a Labour party well-wisher?
The post to Bad12 was purely a piss-take of his ridiculous ramblings.
I’m predominantly right wing but would have no issue voting labour, if they had decent people and policies.
I hope one day labour ditches the unions,their last century thought process and becomes a decent party again.
Employees must once again unionise and organise in order to exercise collective bargaining power over employers, particularly larger and corporate employers.
Even better, co-ops of workers need to start taking over and democratically running their own work places, instead of taking orders from some faraway Man who doesn’t even understand the business.
I think all businesses need to become cooperatives with the present shareholders becoming either bond or loan holders and no say in the running of the company. Only those who work there would have any say in the direction of the company.
Why don’t workers just set up businesses like this? There’s nothing to stop them.
How many workers want to take on the responsibility of running the business they work for?
Yes there is. Several things in fact:
1.) Finances (this is systemic – our entire system is against it)
2.) Improper education
3.) Raised in an abusive and dysfunctional family (admittedly, 2 & 3 tend to go together)
and more that I just can’t think of right now.
I suspect more than most people realise.
PG’s comments are those of someone completely ignorant of the power of corporate forces and big banking in our economy.
If he was serious about supporting small community owned businesses he would have more to offer us than “get to it then.”
FTFY
You’ll never vote anything other than radical right which means National or Act.
Are you just thick or a complete idiot? The Labour party was formed for the betterment of the people and the country by the workers who were exploited by the wealthy. In the modern world, workers come from innumerable professions, not just miners etc that helped form the party in its beginning days. It is the Labour party principles, policies and programmes that has made New Zealand a better place for everyone, men and women, children and the elderly, employees and the employers, the unemployed and the poor, and even the rich pricks that now infest the greedy ungrateful right wing parties such as National and ACT that are spitting on the poor and the ordinary people with their unfair, unjust, selfish policies, while happily copying many of the great social policies of the last Labour government.
But for the Labour’s socialist principles, you would be on pittance wages languishing on 12 hour days, women’s rights would be pretty much non existent like in some middle east countries, homophobia and discrimination would continue unabated etc, etc. Innumerable progress has been made and lots more needs to be done for justice, environment, equity, freedom, true prosperity etc
Don’t bad mouth the Labour party, you nitwit.
“Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,”
He’d only be a class traitor if he was a blue collar worker. But he never was blue collar. Groomed as a future leader from a very early age, wasn’t he?
Anyway as far as I’m concerned it’s a clean out out of the Labour right, who contradict L(l)abour ideals anyway.
Class traitor, phfft what a load of shit, you’re not Pomgolia now, we don’t do classes down here.
This hang up you lefties have on putting people in boxes/classes is the reason why you’re failing.
It’s a class war BM and you know that because you are one of its participants. An ongoing class war that the 1% who hold the largest share of capital wealth wages every day against the 99% who do not.
You’re on a site with many who are well versed in political economics, so have some respect and please don’t treat the rest of us as ignorant.
It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.
If you picked out 100 random people in the street and then told them we’re fighting a class war, they’d think you’re a complete lunatic that should be locked in a padded cell.
“It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.”
ROFL why are you still trying it on? When you are one of the participants in this very class war?
Perhaps you should learn about NZ history, check out the great strike of 1913, also how the Liberal Government broke up all the large land holdings of the richest families in the 1890’s. And of course, the dispossesion of the entire working class in the 1980’s and 1990’s due to Rogernomics and Ruthanasia.
Really, and I could have sworn that we just had a couple of high-class bludgers go through NZ at our expense.
That has got to be psychological projection. It’s the left that are trying to break down the class barriers while the RWNJs always seem to be trying to build them up.
There are no classes to break down, do you not understand this?
Yes there are. there’s the rich, the middle class, the poor and now the precariat. Just because you want to deny reality and insist these classes don’t exist doesn’t make them any less true.
But the poor can become middle class and the middle class can become rich.
Where are the barriers?
Debt peonage
Lack of cheap credit to start/expand your own business
Economic rentier behaviour from the 0.1% and corporatocracy
An economic and social system which inherently advantages white property owning males
Debt peonage
Examples?
Lack of cheap credit to start/expand your own business
last thing we need is under capitalized businesses starting up, fast way to the poor house
Economic rentier behaviour from the 0.1% and corporatocracy
Examples?
An economic and social system which inherently advantages white property owning males
it’s all the fault of white males, seriously?
I’ve already given you the broad categories, look it up for yourself. Not your research service.
And I’ll add one more: deliberately reduced and declining income share of labour (i.e. workers) with respect to GDP, with the difference siphoned off to corporations and capitalist owners.
“But the poor can become middle class and the middle class can become rich.
Where are the barriers?”
Oh BM, I didn’t realise you were quite this lost. How do you think you’ll ever be rich without poor people?
But there’s no barriers if you want to make the effort, you may not succeed but the opportunity is there.
No barriers at all.
Of course not BM
In their book on inequality The Spirit Level, British researchers Wilkinson and Pickett devote a whole chapter to showing the different ways that entrenched inequality reduces social mobility.
But you have researched this more of course by reading Slater’s opinion and then repeating it.
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/wolfson.institute/events/Wilkinson372010.pdf
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2010/05/inequality-and-social-mobility.html
BM, would you like to address my question please?
How will you manage to be rich without poor people?
“if you want to make the effort …. the opportunity is there.”
gee thanks BM,
I never knew the only reason I am poor, is I am lazy
In your world no rich person has ever actively worked against poor people doing better
know what?
for a guy who no-doubt imagines his initials stand for Big Man,
you sure do have a tiny mind.
There will always be poor people, it’s always been that way and always will.
How much money I make is irrelevant.
[my emphasis]
lol
So even if you make an effort, you might remain poor? But there are no barriers?
Fuck you’re a slippery liar.
“if you want to make the effort …. the opportunity is there.”
Ever play video games BM?
I ask coz there’s this thing on many of them in ‘settings’ where you can dial things up and down, and make the game easier.
You know?
Your dude might have more hit points, or it might make the enemies a bit dumber, or fewer, that sort of thing.
Imagine that in a multi-player game, and some folks get their settings set, by society, a bit easier on most of the settings. They will find it easier, and if they don;t get that are playing at an advantage, they are gonna think they are shit hot at this game.
Aren’t they?
Absolutely.
Many people have busted their nuts and never succeeded, that’s just how the game goes.
Maybe their idea was shit, maybe people didn’t want their product, maybe they ran out of money or the timing was wrong.
No one is ever guaranteed success.
So the poor can become middle class and the middle class can become rich, but even if the poor do everything right they might not succeed, in which case through no fault of their own they can’t become middle class / rich.
Are you suffering from severe cognitive dissonance, or are you just a shit liar?
Ooh ooh I know this one, he’s a shit liar McF.
He still won’t answer my q either: How can he be rich without poor people?
Who does he think is going to do the shit jobs? The other rich people? Good luck getting them to work for peanuts.
Fucking idiot liar.
Cool BM will support 100% death duties and the law that makes it illegal to transfer your personal wealth to anyone else.
That way we all start with nothing and only the sum of our personal endeavors will get us anywhere.
“Who does he think is going to do the shit jobs? ”
The failures. If we get rich enough the guest workers. You are being stupid.
Nope sryass, BM said the poor will become middle class, and then rich. So no more poor people.
You can’t have it both ways, dicks.
It’s in the interest of the Tories to pretend that they are not waging war against the under class and working class – stealth is the only way they can get away with it.
I know.
That is ridiculous. The Government (I assume the “Tories” is some unheard of label you have for the New Zealand Government. Funny I thought it was some ancient English political faction) presides over a $27 billion welfare safety net. You are seriously deluded.
Hey Shitlands. All you’ve pointed out is that the Tories have some remnant electoral self preservation instinct. They know that they cannot dismantle the NZ welfare state expeditiously and have to instead dismantle it bit by bit, while demonising the vulnerable and the poor on the way. And your point is?
What’s a servant of the power elite like you who has never voted in NZ care anyway?
SSpylands, I have serious concerns about your memory. Your confusion about the word “tory” sounded familiar, and less that 30sec using the search box says you were taught about that word last September, and again in October. Try reading those comment branches again before (once again) removing all doubt as to your stupidity.
I’m especially concerned that such a stupid fucking idiot, as you obviously must be, claims to be/have been involved in formulation of government policy.
Perhaps that would explain why you are obviously unaware that the nats are destroying the $27bil welfare safety net loop by “application declined” loop.
Or maybe you think it’s a sophisticated distraction to plead ignorance about a two-syllable word and then argue that the fact the government hasn’t completely destroyed something means that the government must be actively preserving it. Well, an idiot feels compelled to double down on his own idiocy, I guess.
Oh god so stupid.
could be useful here
a suggested sign-language-for-deaf ‘sign’ for ‘shane jones’:
..a rhythmic half-closed-fist hand-motion should do it/the trick..
Politics is hard mistress. I just watched the David Cunliffe interview on the Paul Henry Show from Tuesday night. Respect! Respect! David was very calm despite the best efforts of that psychotic arse. I’ll bathe in Dettol!
Education
The US middle class income falling faster than any OECD country WHy.
Education has been identified as the cause of decline.
Decline in Pisa scores directly related to decline in income.
And we are adopting the same policies that have lead to this decline.
Yes as Kelvin Davis is a teacher …i would like to see/hear his views on Charter Schools and Standards Testing enunciated here for all to see/hear…just so we can have confidence in him.
On the surface he looks like a very fortunate replacement for Shane
btw….why is Morning Report bringing out Bassett….of ACT to criticise the Labour Party and Cunliffe….Bassett is an old ‘has been’ Rogernom….he is the last person who should be critiquing Labour and Cunliffe….he was part of the cabal that just about destroyed Labour
….what is Morning Report doing?…is it now a mouthpiece for ACT?
….that said I thought John Tamihere was very good ….cant he be brought back into the Labour Party fold?…he has done his time for his ‘crime’ insensitivity to women ( a crime many others have committed on the Left) ….and he was very popular on radio …he could be a big draw card for Neathandral Man …Labour working men.
What did you really expect when they put Espiner in there the other week. I have listened only once to Morning Report since he took over, it took me about 40 mins of Espiner to change the channel to something reasonable, like Radio Live.
Uh, you’re incorrect on this count, unfortunately. You’ve mistaken cause and effect.
What getting a higher education means today in the USA is being highly qualifiedand stacking shelves or flipping burgers on the minimum wage, with a massive and unrepayable student loan.
The true cause of the collapse of the US middle class is far more complex – and has to do with the power elite exporting all solid working class jobs out of the nation and then systematically destroying the value of peoples property and pension funds.
+1111
ONE News headline ” Labour in damage control “:National a safe pair of hands “.
“Labour party has definately been hurt”- Corinn Dann.
yet “Jones often acted as a wedge between Labour and the Greens” , refused to work with Norman – Michael Parkin with a side order of Pagani spin, “it’s a warning sign”
Gower- “…risks being punished in the polls.”
Plenty of balance there was, Not!
Further to the harms of fructose, The WHO new recommendations for daily sugar intake, 5% of total daily food intake. Equals about 6 teaspoons.
If cut back, takes about four days of unsettling withdrawals.
That doesn’t quite make sense, the WHO 5% of daily food intake that is, i would have to weigh my total food intake for a day,(which is probably a good idea to do for a week), but, am pretty sure that if liquids are included then the daily intake is over ‘ a kilo’,
Me thinks i will do that starting next Monday, weighing both solid food and liquid intake to see what my normal diet weighs,(weekends are now the ‘fasting diet’ to keep the kilo’s falling off),
Dieting is interesting, i have found that even the vege and fruit diet can add body weight, which suggests weight loss is more a matter of ‘how much’ of ‘anything’ is the key,
Still think unless a ‘scientific case’ can be made for adding sugar to food can be made then Legislation is needed to have it removed from food items that are not classed specifically as sweets,or at the least, a large label being a requirement to show the number of spoons of sugar a serving of the product contains per serving,
Last nights Third Degree was a shallow look at the other side of the health issue ‘fats’, i wasn’t impressed at all,
Obviously the body ‘needs’ some fat/oil so as to be able to transport vital nutrients around the body which otherwise would simply be discharged via the liver down the toilet, i am though sticking with the view of good fats/bad fats…
Weight loss is more a question of getting some exercise.
Exercise is important of course but it is just one factor. For instance, Dr Lustig’s presentation on how large quantities of sugar in the modern diet screws up energy-behaviour metabolism at the brain level is instructive.
Agree and disagree Draco, for those able to ‘up’ the amount of physical activity to burn off the calories its not bad advice,
However, if like me a person has bone or muscle issues which prohibit the ‘upping’ of physical exercise then it has to be diet alone which can be used as the weight loss mechanism…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T'ai_chi_ch'uan
Lolz stop it, next you will be advising me how to prepare mung beans and lentils…
Boil until dead and then throw it in the garden as compost 😛
If you’re dead you can’t throw it in the garden.
@ bad 12
molasses can be a good substitute for sugar cravings…this is all the minerals /vits etc left over from sugar refining…it is very strong but it can be put in gravies and cakes or on porridge..or just a tsp as a tonic…Red Seal Black Strap Molasses has for a few dollars… manganese( lots), magnesium(lots), iron, calcium( lots), sodium
…a good book to get is : ‘Stay Healthy by Supplying Whats lacking in Your Diet’ by David Coorey….for $25..(NZ publishing House .Private Bag 12029, Tauranga…(Tel: 0800 140 141)
( it gives an index of health symptoms/deficiencies /foods that supply essential vits/minerals for these deficiences eg …advice for weight loss, diabetes, alcohol cravings ,eye sight , dementia, gout, migraines , chloresterol, osteoporosis, gum disease, chronic fatigue, tinnitus….etc.etc.).. you can be your own doctor before your symptoms get out of control…it is very budget friendly …i hardly ever see a doctor!..nor does my family)
Lolz thanks Chooky, but, spending 25 bucks on a book here isn’t an option, i have tho Google as a friend and can find it all out from the basic to the uni studies online,
Molasses sounds quite interesting and i will check out the cost on my next food forage in the supermarket, still sugar tho,(even tho it contains a good amount of those essential minerals), and, i have to watch total intake,
That sugar craving at a certain point as you cut down is quite an acute one, psychological more than physical,(for me anyway), i have cut down from 2 teaspoons in my tea mug all the time to 1 teaspoon and then onto 1 teaspoon every fourth cuppa,
My fruit intake has tho tripled from what has been the lifelong (bad) habit and there are plenty of sugars in fruit, weight has dropped to 95 kilo from 110 kilo at Christmas, i am tho doing mini crash diets on weekends to make up for my bad habit of making big yummy veg and fish meals and then scoffing the lot…
And here’s me thinking that was just the lack of coffee.
Political junkie question of the day.
What do Dunedin North, Mangere Maungakiekie, Mt Albert, Rongotai, and the 7 Maori electorates have in common and why is this grim news for Labour?
2 hours and no one got it.
These are the only constituencies where National lost the Party Vote.
New Zealand is blue and will get even bluer.
Nope, you don’t get it – it’s no longer a two horse race an no party will be the sole inhabitant of government ever again.
No party has been the sole inhabitant of government for more than 20 years – National may have the numbers to be sole inhabitant in September but John Key will share government with willing support parties as he plans to win in 2017 and 2021 assuming we have a 4 year term by then.
National don’t like sharing power – that was why they took over Act. Sure, they still had to get UF and the mP on board but they knew that they’d be able to buy them up quite easily and that, once bought, they’d stay bought as the mP just proved.
Sure, I think davis is better than jones by a country mile but…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11243097
yeah don’t want to be an ‘unemployed bum’ do we – not for the ‘headhunted by jones’ davis who wants to be the electorate mp by beating Hone.
Sure, I think davis is better than jones by a country mile but…
…yes Davis needs to be open about what he stands for ..we need to get statements from him so he is on record
Shane chose him…this is a worry!…also that he worked for the Ministry of Education, which has been hopelessly compromised by its Minister and ACT private company lobbyists for Charter Schools
We dont want another new Trojan Horse in the Labour Party
Cunliffe’s job is hard enough as it is….. with all the old Rogernomes guard still unretired
My view, Davis stands for the Labour Party that represents the New Zealand middle class, full stop…
Has labour got so desperate that they have to have children protest.
Can they no longer find any adults to do their protesting.
Perhaps they are getting ready with twelve year olds to try and win the 2022 election.
Just saying.
I am a pensioner and this time my vote is with national.
[lprent: Looking at your email address, I’d have been surprised if you’d ever voted for anyone apart from National and/or Act.
In my experience, Labour and the left usually manages to turn out thousands for their larger protests when the right and National can usually turn out mere handfuls. So I’d suspect that the reason that children were turning out would probably have something to do with how whatever it is affects them.
However, putting a link or even a reference into the story you’re talking about would probably help people with understanding what you are indignant about. I currently have no idea and your comment gives no hint. Please try to do better next time.
Could someone help this guy out. ]
I don’t know whether anyone could help Jim47, given that he has obviously had 65 years to sort himself out, and this is the best he can do.
However, I think he is referring to the story mentioned above by both karol and bad12, regarding the egging of the PM’s car in Maraenui.
Jim47 seems to believe from this article that it was a Labour Party – day out holiday activity for the kiddies. Reading comprehension levels shown by his comment indicate that it is probably fairly unlikely that any written comment “helping him out” will do much to change his mind.
After all, his vote is with National.
Well put Molly, Jim47 is obviously an idiot by design or genetic irresponsibility on the part of other’s,
The kids involved in giving Slippery the Prime Minister ‘the message’ were all locals who fully understand what is happening as the PM and un-Housing Minister Smith re-arrange the deck chairs of the HousingNZ estate using the publicity of the mass media to mask the 20%–42.5 billion dollar asset sale they are attempting by flogging off the housing of the poorest in our communities,
The State Houses bowled over to make way for the ‘pensioner housing’ would have previously housed their cousins and friends so on whatever level they understand what is occurring understand it they do,
The only visible political presence at this protest,was that of the Mana Party…
Real important news as opposed to the Jones beat up.
Wonder what people think of Key and his crew as their mortgages rise.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11243323
Lolz the Bank Robbery of the century, with inflation at a miserly 1.5% the Reserve Bank Governor in an act of ”kill it befor it grows” kneecaps the economy and acts to profit the Trading Banks with windfall profits of billions of dollars in added interest payments…
Meh, mortgage rates rise and mortgage rates fall
When there’s no reason for them to have interest rates on at all. No loans should have interest on them.
+1
Even if some people aren’t concerned by the rise in interest rates, Stuff’s website shows one of its notorious polls, just putting its foot in the water for the elite, as it knows damn well that people struggling to pay their mortgages is electoral poison.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/
BTW The wording of these polls is appalling.
Will higher interest rates hurt you?
Yes, I’m not happy
No, I planned for them
Bring them on, I’m a saver
I disagree there Draco, assuming you are talking about NZ printing our own cash not continuing to borrow from the Central Banks.
If a 1% interest rate was levied on all loans from the Government to home owners, new business ventures etc, then that is another stable resource for making contributions to the UBI fund. Of course this is in addition to the % taken by the Robin hood Tax when the loan is made operational.
You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income. It doesn’t. The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.
Not sure I am completely clear on your endgame there Draco.
No taxes of any sort?
How does Government function without an income? Do Governments just print money with no controls at all? That is what the central Banks do now and look where that has gotten us.
How do roads get built?
How does Healthcare function?
Education?
Civil Defence?
Police and the Military ?? (if we still have to have them 🙂 )
I must be missing something obvious …
(no-job stress has me missing sleep, I know that much )
Yes money is a lie and interest compounds that lie.
Yes together they are a powerful force but it does not have to be a destructive force.
As I said, maybe I have misunderstood what you mean.
No, there’d still be taxes.
It’s not a question of functioning without an income but realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government. And, yes, there would be rules.
The same way that they do now – by paying the people doing them.
(excuse the delay in responding Draco, I had stuff to do)
Originally you were talking about interest not being needed.
“When there’s no reason for them to have interest rates on at all. No loans should have interest on them.”
“The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.”
You then seemed to shift the same idea onto taxes.
“realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government”
In any economy, taxes and interest are not really the same thing.
“You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income.” Taxes are Government income. As much as created or borrowed funds are.
The not repaying loans idea is pretty out there, I just do not see how an economy functions that way. Governments supply new money, check. It gets distributed into the economy via bank loans, mortgages etc, check. . . .and then what?
It just doesn’t get repaid ?
Good job I didn’t treat them as being the same then. Repayment of the loan does not include interest – that’s added on top in the present system and I’ve specifically said that loans won’t have interest.
Well, you certainly didn’t get that from me either. Nowhere did I say that the money wouldn’t be removed from the system afterwards. All, I’ve said is that there was no need of interest and that there shouldn’t be any interest charged. In fact, you even quoted the bit where I said it would be returned/removed/destroyed.
When Interest Rates are low, Key/English trumpet their clever stewardship.
When Interest Rates rise it is the independent Reserve Bank’s work.
Funny that?
You mean like Clark and Cullen when the global market was booming? Its what politicians do on both sides
Can’t recall Labour ever boasting about low interest rates but I can remember them saying that the interest rates weren’t up to them due to the RBNZ being independent and the rates were the result of the market. I don’t think many people bought it though as most were already starting to realise that the market was code for the rich getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
The OCR increasing 3% won’t just hurt those who already have mortgages, it will lock many middle income home buyers out of the market. Also, the amount of mortgagee auctions will likely continue to increase under this regime.
People having less money to spend will assuredly slow the economy, which is only showing signs of recovery because commodity prices have increased. Increased spending is a result of things costing more, not because people are buying more. A lack of competition in the retail sector will also effect the housing bubble in a bad way because people won’t be able to save for a deposit on their first home.
Along with the 20% lending criteria, an already slowing market and unprecedented overinflation, now is clearly not the right time to be locked into a mortgage. Such assets will not be liquid because many thousands of Kiwis will be trapped renting forever.
If some better policies aren’t implemented soon, homeowners and investors will start to lose equity and our housing stock will be further degraded. In the long run that won’t benefit anybody, not even the speculators.
If you prefer discussing the continuing evidence of climate change and our governments failure to amend our policies to avoid this, read this
http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/9973720/Taupo-sized-iceberg-B-31-on-the-move
Or you could talk to Pete about totaras..,..
“policies” have a very limited role in halting climate change when a centuries worth of built economic and logistical infrastructure of your entire country is predicated on fossil fuels.
I wonder what the rest of the Labour MPs are thinking about Jones leaving, I mean it must be pretty gutting knowing that National think that Jones is such a big threat that they create a job for him but for every other Labour MP theres nothing 🙂
Apparently, They didn’t think Jones was a big threat – they thought, and still think, of him as a good friend.
Of course he was a threat, waitakere man and all that. He was smart, spoke well and appealed to a cross-section of people and National took out one of Labours weapons
Well played National
Mostly to Labour as far as I could tell from his screwups.
Yeah of course because Jones was responsible for:
The baby bonus debacle
The power generation announcement dogs breakfast
Keys leafy suburb botch up
Cunliffes secret trusts
Nigella Lawson
Just as an example
National tr*lls for Shane Jones. You should make a T-shirt.
at this stage..p.r..
..it wd seem jones was the only(?) labour mp..in their pocket..
..’their’ man/mole in labour….
..and i am sure many labour mp’s are glad this embarassment has sprayed his way off the stage..
Wouldn’t be surprised if Shearer exits stage right.
Maybe sometime in June?
That’d be another plus for labour but I doubt if he will. He actually seems to want to do something about poverty unfortunately he still thinks capitalism can.
The only Labour MP deemed a threat, he probably could have gone toe to toe with Key in the debates but we’ll never know now
jones wouldn’t have gone ‘toe to toe’ with key..
..it’d be more lips (attached firmly) to arse…
..with key as the receiver..
Drivel, 5 and a half years of Opposition and all Jones has come out with is a rave about supermarkets which the Commerce Commission is likely to have the final say of ”nothing to see here folks”, on,
Jones is gone, good riddance, a waste of space in every sense of the word…
“The only Labour MP deemed a threat”
Yeah, but weirdly the govt and the PM’s office spend all their time attacking Cunliffe and the Greens.
🙄
Revisiting the Fossil Fuel company contributions to global warming printed by the Guardian some months ago (noted by a Standardista), and thought to have a look at what other graphics may have been produced.
They were working on an Open Corporates map, one that shows the complex web of company ownership and control on a global scale. One problem is that small countries often were the best locations for companies to operate from, and so would have too much overlap when plotting companies. Their solution: to upscale the country in a honeycomb fashion to indicate the company’s presence there.
I had a look at Goldman Sachs – on their live version which was produced in UK summer of 2013, and was surprised to the relative size of NZ.
(To see the chain of ownership, just hover over one of the companies (circles) on the map)
that’s an important/must-read link you have posted there molly…
We discover now that ACC, Collins, thinks people having accidents is a choice. We’ve understood for sometime now that Bennett believes people choose unemployment and under-employment. How
long is it before Key believes, like ACT, that proportionality is wrong in sentencing, and retrospective laws are all okay.
It beggars belief that any liberty loving citizen could vote for this far right government and not vomit in shame.
Referring to Jones, Mr Cunliffe stated that when a totara falls, other totara will grow in its place. Mr Parekura Horamia was a true totara. To me, Jones is no totara. In my opinion he has instead just shown himself to be a farterer creating bad stink.
Tumbleweed will never be totara..
Why you should NOT wear a red poppy
Far from apologizing, the RSA ran poems in its magazine praising this….
In late 1918, after the war had ended, New Zealand and Australian soldiers rounded up more than one hundred boys and men in the Palestinian village of Surafend, then methodically clubbed them to death…..
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog?topic_id=1115959
This is one of many reasons people should wear a red poppy.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/le-quesnoy/the-liberation-of-le-quesnoy.
Courage takes many forms , being a keyboard warrior isn’t one of them.
I asked my uncle about the first world war and he talked about the horses.
I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines that they shot horses who were stuck or could no longer pull the guns and he thought it was wrong that animals who had nothing to do with the war were made to suffer and die, while men who could choose did the goading and the killing.
I don’t remember him going to Anzac Day Parades or wearing the red poppy, and he never showed me his medals.
Yep. Let us remember…the sheer brutality and utter inhumanity of outright warfare, where it is virtually always the civilians and the children who suffer the most egregious crimes.
Something calling itself “Blue” seemed just a tad bewildered the day before Anzac Day.
This is one of many reasons people should wear a red poppy.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/le-quesnoy/the-liberation-of-le-quesnoy.
My post was not about Le Quesnoy, it was about something altogether different: the rounding up and murder of more than one hundred unarmed men and boys in the village of Surafend. And the fact that the RSA’s magazine ran poems PRAISING the massacre.
Courage takes many forms , being a keyboard warrior isn’t one of them.
And rounding up civilians and battering them to death certainly is not courageous.
Or perhaps “Blue” thinks those Anzac murderers and the others who said nothing were courageous?
Blair’s anti-democratic tirade
by SEUMAS MILNE, The Guardian
Wednesday 23 April 2014
The neocons are back. That toxic blend of messianic warmongering abroad and McCarthyite witch-hunting at home – which gave us Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo and the London bombings – is coursing through our public life again. Yesterday the liberal interventionists’ hero, Tony Blair, was once more demanding military action against the “threat of radical Islam”.
Reprising the theme that guided him and George Bush through the deceit and carnage of the “war on terror”, the former prime minister took his crusade against “Islamism” on to a new plane. The west should, he demanded, make common cause with Russia and China to support those with a “modern” view against the tide of political Islam.
But he also demanded military intervention against Syria – backed by Russia – along with more “active measures” to help the armed opposition, which is dominated by Islamists and jihadists. It’s a crazy combination with an openly anti-democratic core: the Middle East peace envoy also warmly endorsed the Egyptian dictatorship, along with the repressive autocracies of the Gulf.
Quite why the views of a man whose military interventions in the Muslim world have been so widely discredited, who has been funded by the Kazakhstan dictator and is regarded by up to a third of the British public as a war criminal, should be treated with such attention by the media isn’t immediately obvious. But one reason is that they chime with those of a powerful section of the political and security establishment.
In Britain, the campaign against Islamist “extremism” is once again in full flow. In fact, it is open season on the Muslim community. For the past few weeks reports have multiplied about an alleged “Islamic plot”, code-named Operation Trojan Horse, to take control of 25 state schools in Birmingham and run them on strict religious principles.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, a long-time neoconservative supporter of Blair’s wars and Islamist witchfinder general, responded by sending in an army of inspectors to hunt down extremists and appointing….
Read more….
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/23/war-islamism-hatred-violence-blair-cameron-toxic
this blair/putin cartoon is on the money..
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-daily-cartoon-8117874.html?origin=internalSearch
So Jones is off to help the Pacific Islands exploit the fish that swim in “their” waters.
When is this organism – homo sapiens – going to understand that it does not have domain over
and automatic right to gather the creatures of the sea?
When are we going to realise that we can’t extract wealth from the environment without consequences?
The Treaty of Waitangi begs to differ
So you’ll be wanting to ban dolphins then?
No problem with people catching fish off the rocks but once they put to sea in boats …
I look forward to viewing your link showing where any cetacean comes ashore to pillage the land!
🙄
Roflcopter, what makes you think dolphins don’t have domain over
and automatic right to gather the creatures of the sea?
What a bizarre thing to suggest.
Just looking at ministerial expenses. Thanks No right turn. Why on earth doesn’t the NZ government have a blanket no alcohol policy. If you want to drink, you pay for it yourself. I’m sure other governments would be delighted to get their people back alcohol free.
For example Tim Grosser went to the Atlantic on the 9th Oct 13 for a “working dinner” food was $678 and drinks $433 the bulk of which was alcohol.How much much work was likely to be done when drinking.
And in New York he appears to be spending about $300 for three bottles of wine. And in July his P/S ( private secretary ) had lunch at the Circa Foggy Bottom. Near headquarters perhaps?
+1. MPs should lead then spread it right through government. They’re always looking to save money. Here’s an idea.
Apologies if it’s has already been noted (I haven’t been around for the last two days since the news of Jone’s departure has hit) but aren’t the right getting all frothy about it?
The RWNJ’s have come out from under their damp logs en masse to comment here, the media are spinning so hard that they could collectively, if connected to a generator power a large city (Just one example among many, from yesterday: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9968055/Jones-job-offer-not-shot-at-Labour-PM ) and the real life righties are agog.
The real life examples:
Discussion with visitor, a former ACT Party member and National voter on the topic of Shane Jone’s decision to leave, their view: ” I’m really disappointed, Shane Jones was the only decent down to earth one among the lot of them”…………Fine if you like misogynist corporate lobbyists, oh, right, you do………
And this little gem seen one an outdoor cafe blackboard in the Ohariu electorate: “Shane Jones: A loss to us all”. This guys’ not taking the piss. Its the same business owner that had “The jury is always right” written on his blackboard the day after Clint Rickards was not found guilty of rape in 2006 and once had a sign saying “if you don’t want to pay the surcharge on public holidays turn around and leave now”. (Touching that Jone’s inspired such sorrow in such a RWNJ’s heart)
What’s got them so ruffled? The prospect of a Labour Green led government advancing forward after 20th September, unencumbered by Jones, no longer there to “keep the Greenies in check”? I guess they are scared………….
“I guess they are scared………….”
I am very scared at the thought of the Greens anywhere near finance books. Labour near the books is not so bad but the Greens will wreck this country quicker then you can say green economy
Lol you PR. If you’re scared (of your imagination telling you “the Greens will wreck this country…) does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?
“does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?”
I expect National regain power (in fact I’d bet on it but most of the people on here are gutless so no one would take it) however a Labour/greens win is of course always a possibility
“..I am very scared..”
i hope you make sure to check under yr bed before retiring of an evening..
..just to be sure..!
I’d be more worried by these jokers remaining in power.
Gradually indebting the country to foreign interests.
And yet you slavishly support them pr.
Pathetic, really.
“Government debt has reached $60 billion, having climbed $27 million a day since John Key became prime minister – and forecasts show it will rise for years to come.
Despite tax revenue being higher than expected and expenses lower in recent months, Treasury figures show net Crown debt reached the highest yet at $60,015,000,000 at the end of September.
It already equates to 28 per cent of New Zealand’s economic output, is more than $13,000 for every person in New Zealand and is forecast to climb by another $10b by 2017.
When National took control of the Beehive in 2008, debt was just over $10b.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9380846/Public-debt-climbs-by-27m-a-day
I think it’s because they know that Labour is more electable without Jones in it.
Its not ruffled, its the right trying to spread dissent so that less people will vote for Labour with the end effect being National regaining power.
…because an approach of winning on merit just wouldn’t work for crap-policies-and-no-friends-National
….and spreading dissent is the only way they can get votes -that is by creating disharmony amongst us is it not?
‘Vote for National and have an increasingly divided country.’
Sounds about Right.
Great stuff National.
National in power is whats best for NZ so National will do what it needs to do to win, Labour will attempt to do what it needs to do to win (it will fail though)
Thats politics
‘Vote National – for a divided society’
“its the right trying to spread dissent so that less people will vote for Labour”
Aha! Which comes back to being scared. Or at least a bit anxious and uncomfortable about the possibility of a Left win, which you do admit above, could happen.
I expect it could happen too, especially if UF, ACT and Maori fail to prop up the Natz.
Yep Drax, they know and we know it. The brakes are off.
+100 DTB
Why does the side banner record the amount of sunshine? Seems banal.
Monkey clicky linky?
Is “joules per second” too hard for you, Fisiani? That why they make picture books and widgets. Now remember to use your manners and say thank you.
Odd – comment disappeared: wordpress says “looks like you’ve already said that” but still no sign of it.
In any case, click through the link in the banner for the explanation Fisi.
Or, the short explanation: that “joules/second” is too hard for some monkeys to grasp so we made this widget to help them.
sorry, couldnt reply to BM above. not all of us want to be rich, some of us like working for a wage, i enjoy my job. but that doesn’t mean i should get shit wages &/or job insecurity. there’s got to be a better way of structuring wealth & work, so people can earn decent wages & the bosses still get to buy their convertables for their latest barbie girl etc…
Yeah and it’s a curious one that the establishment applies to the teaching profession, particularly primary level. Apparently the meme is that individuals enter teaching for the love of it and not for the money. This has been twisted to, “We don’t have to pay them much because they do it for love.”
same with the aged care workers, & nurses i imagine, where a lot of work gets done not because they get paid for it but because they care, they will go the extra mile & help each other out. must run into the millions this unpaid work ppl do.
It’s pretty much across every sector. If you love you’re work you’ll get paid less and no employer will hire anybody who doesn’t love the work and they won’t hire you if you show no enthusiasm for working for the company either.
The ways and means of control are numerous.
I sent an email to David Cunliffe and am interested in his reply. I wanted to know what his motives are for repairing the Gisborne/Napier rail if elected. There are concerns among the locals in Gisborne that Labour are using this to get Napier votes. Many locals here feel he wants to take a piece of Gisborne’s booming forestry to create opportunities for Napier. Unfortunately for us, this means making Napier Port busy, creating large volumes of logs for them. It seems a cynical move by Labour, compounded by the fact Mr Cunliffe and Ms Mackey are silent on the issue, declaring they want to open up the Gisborne to Napier rail line without properly explaining how it will benefit Gisborne. I am a Labour voter but personally I agree with National (which I have never done before) that it is not viable enough and will cost millions to repair the damaged line. It also hits home as we are employees in the forestry industry here, the good wages help us enjoy a reasonable quality of life and we can give our kids opportunities. I hope Mr Cunliffe can assure us that our jobs and our Eastland Port are not at threat and will not be impacted by diverting logs directly to Napier, affecting employees whom service those logs here.
Napier port has far superior log handling and storage facilities than Gisborne. Major shipping lines actually stop in Napier. The rail line is no threat to the jobs from the forests.
The alternative of no rail line is all those logging trucks going onto the highway on High Volume trailer trucks – which is dangerous and expensive. That highway maintenance and safety cost falls on us taxpayers. By rail that cost falls where it should onto the logging companies.
Remember when there was a rail station and jobs in Gisborne? Time to bring those jobs back.